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Thursday, February 22, 2018

Sermon Wednesday in 1st Lent - The Way of Discipleship

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Calling Disciples, Dr. He Qui, 2001

Sermon
based on Discipleship, chapter eight

Dietrich
Bonhoeffer puts it starkly –

‘To
his first disciples Jesus was bodily present,

speaking
his word directly to them.

But
this Jesus died and is risen.

How,
then, does his call to discipleship reach us today?

He
no longer walks past me in bodily form and calls, ‘Follow me.’

And
this leads us to seemingly unending questions.’

I
can imagine that some questions might be,

Where
should I listen for the call of Jesus?

Should
I listen for a voice inside my heart?

Or
open the Bible to a random page and do what it says?

How
can I tell which call is for me?

Can
I say that I should leave everything and go like the first disciples?

What
about those who were not called to leave everything and follow?

What
should I do?

Where
can I hear Christ, where can I encounter him?

Bonhoeffer
says,

‘What
for the first disciples was so entirely unambiguous

is
for me a decision that is highly problematic and fraught with uncertainty.’

But,
he says, we need to remember and take seriously

that
‘Jesus Christ is not dead but alive and still speaking to us through the word
of Scripture.’

‘If
we want to hear his call to discipleship,

we
need to hear it where Christ himself is present.

‘The
preaching and sacrament of the church is where Jesus Christ is present.

Listen
to the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord!

Here
he is, the whole Christ,

the
very same who encountered the disciples.

Indeed,
here he is already present

as
the glorified, the victorious, the living Christ.’

‘Christ
can only be recognized in faith.

That
was true in the same way for the first disciples as it is for us.

They
saw the rabbi and the miracle worker,

and
believed in Christ.

We
hear the word and believe in Christ.’

But
perhaps we think, still the first disciples have an advantage over us,

because
they were told exactly what to do.

They
heard it from his lips,

they
did not have choices laid before them.

And
perhaps this is why the church has such trouble with obeying Christ,

with
discipleship.

If
only Christ himself would clearly speak to us,

and
tell us what to do, or how much to give, or what to feel and think,